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User blog:Ash9876/Jutsu Selection
Hi guys; Ashy here! I thought that, since I am a bit more well-known across this wiki, that I'd make a small blog outlining my opinions on how people should go about selecting the jutsu, general abilities and a few roleplaying tips based on the userbase here. Please don't take this as criticism or orders of any kind! Nobody has to do this, at all! It's just a way of, perhaps, improving yourself as a writer, reflected on your portrayal of your characters primarily. The blog will be split into two main sections, Jutsu Selection and Roleplaying Tips. Within each section are sub-sections that will be addressed accordingly. I also suggest reading Bored's Unofficial Writing Guide for more help. Jutsu Selection The Problem? The main problem that I've seen around this wiki, with a select few users in particular, and especially newer ones, is that the selection of techniques and abilities for a character is the main focus for them! This kind of thinking really makes an individual's abilities seem really hap-hazard, ill-thought of and in general, just bad. I don't like to be demeaning, but just because you want an individual who is an expert on Wind, Earth, Fire and Dust Release does not mean their list of Jutsu has to be an endless pile of nonsense that you probably don't understand and will never use anyway. Why do people do this, you might ask. Well the answer is quite simple: this userbase is very fond of RPs, specifically, battle ones that are quite random and out of place. To win these RPs at any cost, with no thought, the users add jutsu in hopes that they can win with a barrage of jutsu that they don't know how to use properly. For this reason, it detracts greatly from the value of the character themselves as an individual! Ninja aren't robots (unless you count Hibiki's future :P), and thus, have a personality that you must count! So, without further ado, let us begin noting the steps to solve this problem. What can YOU do? Rightio, there are several things you can do to remedy this, so we must go through the steps: *'Step 1, STOP AND THINK!': Please, please don't rush into a character because you have a potentially cool image and just want to spam a Kekkei Genkai or something. This is especially true with Uchiha, Rinnegan-users, Wood Release users, etc. Think about what you want to achieve with the character: no, this cannot just be "I want him to be a master of blah blah" or something related with skills. It should be about the character's achievements. What they want, not what you want. So, got down the character's actual ambitions? Whether it to be to achieve some sort of peace, protect someone close to them, or even an "evil" motive, it really doesn't matter. You should just have something that they aspire towards, and write it down! This is important, otherwise you'll forget, which is bad! *'Step 2, Background': So, got the ambition of the character down? Great! Now another "tedious" step is to achieve a successful background of the character. This step is vital, as it provides the ability for you to determine how your character has achieved what they have achieved, and thus, provide justification for their skills. After all, an empty skill-set is rather boring, non? Each and every background does not have to be a tragedy; rather, it can be a background that was rather boring, perhaps, leading to your character's increased inquisition into the Shinobi arts, therefore pursuing their chosen paths. *'Step 3, Personality': With backgrounds inevitably come personality. Note, if you're unable to complete the background fluidly for a character, it's best to attempt to redesign them. A background is essentially pouring your soul into a character, forging them to become the human being they are. Without this essence, it means you truly aren't able to empathize and connect with the character, making the journey rather useless. Nonetheless; with the personality, there's a number of things you can write about. But! Don't just give us the superficial things. Give us a hint to why they think like they think, what they think about, when especially, little details can help in forging an image for both yourself and the reader, which is excellent! *'Step 4, Abilities~': Now that the personality, background (and most probably your appearance perhaps relationships), are fleshed out, you can finally get onto everyone's favorite thing, abilities, and with that, jutsu!. But stop for one more (or few) moments please! Think, think, and THINK about what nature suits your character and why that would be? Does it fit with their ambitions, overall theme you're trying to create? If so, go ahead and use it. If trying to use a Kekkei Genkai: think. Do you really need a Kekkei Genkai to achieve what you wish with this character? Does it play a vital role in the way they develop as a person? Has the Kekkei Genkai actually contributed to their current mindset? If you can answer these questions well, then go ahead and do so! *'Step 5, Jutsu!': Right, so do I have the breakdown for you. When selecting jutsu, this is what I do, and by extension, users like Cherry do. :*'Step 5.1': Understand the Jutsu: understanding the jutsu is vital to be able to use it effectively. Have you taken the time to see the usage of the jutsu within canon, filler or any of the original source material? If so, write out how it would be used in a literary sense; these are literary works we are writing after all. If you can do that much, then the next step can be achieved. :*'Step 5.2': Relevance to the Character: is the jutsu in question relevant to the character's fighting style, general personality, background, and the like? Are the rank, preparation, hand-seal count, and little details aligning with your character? If so, this is good! It means that you can easily visualize your character using such a jutsu, without need to copy source material directly. ::*'Step 5.2 Expansion': Other things within this include: nature affinity; is this your nature affinity? If so, then that's fine. If not, why are you including it? How did they train this? Think about all that before choosing the jutsu as well. Oh and chakra requirements. ALWAYS remember those. :*'Step 5.3': Personalization: what are YOU doing to make the jutsu your own? Are you simply copying canon's usage of the jutsu? If so, don't do that, and don't use it. Each Shinobi is unique in their own way, and that's what makes them stand out among others if given the appropriate level of training. This simple change could be the frequency of its use, the intensity of the jutsu itself, or if it's a Genjutsu; perhaps the sense it affects? The possibilities are very high! End Result? The end result of doing all this? Well first, you'll have a character with a reasonable number of jutsu: that always looks good on the infobox, right? As well as this, you'll also have someone with a concrete background, personality with room for improvement and expansion, as well as actual substance! Likewise, they will reflect a core theme throughout their abilities, which is essential for developing a character with a reasonable power level, and the like. And that's one box ticked~ Roleplaying Tips The Problem? The problem? People roleplay for an undefined purpose. Well, not all people, some people. Foremost, some users on this site roleplay purely to test their mettle. Rather than develop their character's personalities or indulge them in a unique experience involving multiple users, it is a simple test of strength. While this isn't exactly wrong, it can lead to roleplaying that is, perhaps, sub-par in quality. Posts can become insufficient: lose the necessary detail to respond adequately, the other roleplayer being incapable of understanding a post you have done, auto-hitting, godmodding, unrealistic attacks and evasions, and an overall sour roleplaying experience for one or more users. What to do, and what to not do? So, there's numerous things that need to be addressed here. Honestly, I can't dictate how you write. That's all up to you. If I tell you how to write, your writing will sound pathetic and without originality. Everyone will do the same thing and everything becomes boring. So, here are the steps: :1. BE YOURSELF: Okay. Step number 1. The most important step of everything and anything. Be yourself. Don't let other people dictate how you write. There is no set format in writing RPs. You just write how you write. Bring your own flavor into everything. Make sure that you're expressing your own identity in the way you write. THAT's how you make something successful...(of course with other kinks). :2. Fluidity: Fluidity, grammar and spelling, all the else. This simple aspect is quite important in RPs. You want to make sure that your opponent, comrade, and everyone else knows what you're talking about. To help you with this, it's recommended that - if grammar and spelling aren't your strongest suit - you use a spellcheck or something similar. Neat writing is one important step to good writing. :3. Details: Alrighty. Something that bothers me heaps is one-sentence posts. Do you really think someone appreciates when you have a one-sentence post when they're putting in effort to make a nice, fluid, coherent paragraph(s)? No, they do not. You're putting your character in a situation that is "going with the flow." (Unless you have a set outcome from the RP) Therefore, you need to describe things. Emotions of the characters, thoughts, and if you're opening or referring to the environment - describe it! More description doesn't detract, unless it has no relevance to anything at all. Then don't put it in. ::3.1. Details in Responses: Alrighty. Another thing that bugs me to death and beyond is when I get unjustified reactions to an attack I have made. For one thing, something like "he evaded it" is NOT a justifiable response. Okay, he evaded it. Great. But how? You have to make sure that you're respecting the credibility of the author that is RP'ing with you. Detail the ways you are avoiding something so it seems like it's legitimate. Oh, and please don't put stuff like: "He used a technique to evade this." No. It's not that simple. Techniques have processes in which you activate them. Describe those! Describe perhaps how close they were to being hit but managed to dodge. Or, if you don't want to be an asshole, perhaps let them be indirectly hit by the technique. Because I have a philosophy: if they're not hit for a majority of the RP, the hit they get is a big one. And that can cripple a character quite seriously if it's so instantaneous. ::3.2. Details in Attacks: Okay okay, another rant. (To be frank I love ranting sometimes). Please, pleeeeeeeeeeeease put detail into attacks. Just saying they did a technique and putting a link to it DOES NOT CUT IT! Not at all. You say you've done this, but there's so many questions left to ask: where is the attack going to, how fast was the preparation, what was the speed of the technique (and no, "high" doesn't work here), and all the rest. In order to have a proper, flowing RP, you need to be able to convey to the other author your specific intentions. If you do that, it appears as a competition between two authors (which is what an RP is!) rather than simple ramble by one author. :::3.2.1 Multiple Attacks: And finally, the last part of the details section. (See how goddamn IMPORTANT this section is now?) Well, anyways. Multiple attacks at any given time...while it's possible, requires you to be considerate of your character's limitations. All characters have limitations, and for you to spew out five techniques at any given time IS NOT THE EASIEST THING IN THE UNIVERSE. So, a way to make this work is by making sure you properly state how they used the techniques. Is it in conjunction with one another? If so, how and for what purpose? Furthermore, multiple techniques at a given time can be quite slow, unless you justify it by the use of two or more lower-ranked techniques at any given time, considering that their activation setup is much less demanding than a higher-level technique. :4. Consideration for Other People: Probably one of the more important aspects of roleplaying. You see, when some people roleplay, they discount that other people are roleplaying with them and also - perhaps - want to have a good time. Therefore, when they post things that don't take into consideration another roleplayer's post? The other roleplayer gets mad. It is for this reason some people discontinue completely legitimate and well-done roleplays, simply because one of the authors is discrediting the value of another roleplayer. This comes back to the Detail in Responses and Attacks. Make sure you explicitly show that you are reacting to the other roleplayer's post. That you take into account their efforts and let that shine in through your legitimate and well-designed response that allows for a high level of fluidity and credibility to shine through you as a writer as well! P.S. About the Detail in Attack and Response section? If you don't take into account those sections, an opponent could quite easily maneuver your attack into something else simply because you didn't take the initiative to do it yourself. In this case, they can make it so you've completely wasted time using a powerful technique such as the Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation, while it "missed" because you were careless enough to not aim it and give it a specific effect. Just a tad note~ End Result? So here we have it. The roleplaying section is done! Now, if you follow this advice, what happens? You have a more flowing roleplay that both or more users enjoy! People get the best out of it, and are able to develop their own characters through possible plotlines and intricate discussion. In fact, even if you are in a battle, you may still gain quite a bit out of it! A proper reference as a means to showcase your character's skill in a particular area that isn't just ramble. A means to give substance to your characters beyond your words; but rather, the acknowledgement of other users through interactions with characters! Conclusion So here we have it. The conclusion of this (magnificent~) blog! Again, you aren't forced to follow this advice. But for those people who are inexperienced and need direction, I really do recommend this! I didn't have this advice when I started, and I learned the hard way about how to RP and why my technique was flawed. Why my characters were cliche and didn't have any substance, and all the rest. These tips aren't simply for Naruto Fanon. While there are some specifics, the entirety of these tips can be applied to any fanon that involves roleplays and characters that are of a similar fashion to Naruto - even remotely! If there's anything that you've learned out of this blog, I hope it's the fact that you are writing a character because they are a character, and you're engaging them in roleplays for the character; not for yourself. Thank you for reading and I hope you've enjoyed this! :) ~[[User:Ash9876|'Phantom']] ([[User talk:Ash9876|'Revisit an Unholy Land']]) 07:49, October 9, 2013 (UTC) See Also So, I've been scouring around and found some pretty great - unnoticed - blogs around the wiki. I think these are also a good expansion on what I've been trying to say as well through this blog. But alas, people listen to the views of multiple people - one person ain't gonna cut it. So, here we are! *Role Playing 101 by Chrono Nexus *Ideas for Naruto Characters & Jutsu by Silver-Haired Seireitou *Lavi's Guide to Character Creation by LaviBookman. *The Beauty of Genjutsu by Njalm2 *Threat Levels by Njalm2 Category:Blog posts